Keeping Christ in Christmas

Every since our child was born, we have talked about the importance of keeping Christmas focused on Christ. I feel we have done a pretty good job but our child is just 2 1/2 so I think it is a bit early to tell. How have we done this?

Gifts. We've taken the focus off of gifts. The first thing he hears each season is about baby Jesus, not about what does he want on his wishlist. He still receives gifts and enjoys helping mommy shop for gifts, but that isn't the main focus.

Santa. Our child barely knows who Santa is and I'm ok with that. When he sees a picture of Santa he always asks who it is. When we went to visit Santa, he was scared to death even though we had talked about it ahead of time. We've tried to associate Santa with giving gifts and making people happy, not on receiving a bunch of gifts.

Books. Our child loves books so we bought him several Christmas books from the Christian book store. They all point back to the birth of Jesus. The best time to get books is after Christmas and they are usually 50-75% off. I buy a few each year so that he has new books the next time Christmas comes around.

We eventually want to add an advent calendar too but he doesn't quite get it yet. We know that as he gets older and has more worldly influences, Santa and other things will creep in more, but we hope having the early influence will help him keep Christ in Christmas.

Let me close with a cute story of the conversation my child and I had while reading the Christmas story this week:

We open to the page with Mary and Joseph in the stable holding baby Jesus

Me: Who is that?

S: Mommy, daddy, and me

Me: I thought that was Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus

S: No, mommy, daddy, and me - and Papaw's cow

We then turn the page and there is one angel on the page - he proceeds to say that is daddy. I turn the next page and there are five angels. He informs me they are all mommy.

I think we have some work to do on setting him straight but it makes for a great story to tell him when he is older.

What are you doing to keep Christ in Christmas? Feel free to share in the comments section or leave a link to your blog post on this topic.